Let’s All Argue About the Merits [or Faults] of 8-String and 9-String Guitars

Everyone on the Internet loves a good, spirited argument, and in the metal musician community nothing seems to get feathers ruffled these days like the very mention of 8- and 9-string guitars.

Gear Gods scribe Trey Xavier posted a highly worthwhile editorial earlier this week that examines just why people become so enraged at guitars that have more than 6 strings, or, more generally, why people become angry with new ideas and new technology. Here’s a quote:

And from Slipknot’s Mick Thompson: “Seven-string guitars are gay – they’re nothing more than a trend. How many guitarists use all seven strings anyway?”

I can’t imagine that the day someone added a claw to the back of a hammer there was somebody who walked into the smithy and loudly complained that “Claw hammers r gay” “If you need a claw on your hammer, you’re just trying to mask the fact that you’re a terrible carpenter” “Jesus was a carpenter, and HE didn’t need a claw on HIS hammer!”

The problem is a Dad problem. And no, I’m not talking about a male human who has copulated and borne young, I mean the mindset of “Why do you need to change? The way things are now is good and I feel safe and now that things are changing I need to complain and get outraged about cool new things because I don’t understand them.” Which I have shortened to Dad, to save internet ink.

Trey’s editorial is not only incredibly informative and thought-provoking, but highly entertaining (samples of Internet buttmadness abound!): read it here.

Meanwhile, here’s a video of a guy “glitch tapping” on an 8-string Ibanez, followed by a video of After the Burial’s Justin Lowe demoing a 9-string.

What do YOU think: are 8-string and 9-string guitars overkill, or just a new form of expression?